Leaderboard

All Nev could say was to thank other people for being flexible enough to let him help, to the values from his parents and for his wife and kids for letting him contribute his time. Really shows the total humility of the guy.

Nev Jetta is an excellent human being

I'm amazed supporters actually think Saturday's game won't be fully reviewed and that no preparation was put in for a battle. What happened on Saturday was the result of several factors 4 games of high intensity football A game style which is taxing An emotional wave and high we and the playing group had been on for 5 weeks A need to play our trump cards in round 22 due to bad losses earlier in the season A warm day in Perth I believed earlier in the week we were close to hitting a wall physically and emotionally and felt we would fall away after halftime. I also felt for us to have any chance of a win we would need to start well and be 5 or 6 up at halftime. Both sides were nervous at the start turning the ball over but once they got the first goal they settled and sat back inviting us to come through the corridor but with no line breaking runner's take the game we were forced to kick short and they zoned off on players in the middle waiting to pounce on any errant kick, fumble or handball. They got what they wished for and kicked 4 goals from our mistakes not from anything they did. We panicked confidence dropped and we felt the pressure real and perceived. At stoppages they started their mids 15/20m from the ball not allowing us to push them under the ball like last time and also negaing big Maxy from hitting the ball into space for our boys on the outside The coaches made changes putting Tmac behind the ball even opening up our forward 50 to try and free up areas to kick long with IMO trying to force some forward stoppages and hopefully scoreboard pressure in an attempt to stem momentum but still we turned it over. In the first 10 mins we hade some decent half chances inside 50 but we didn't take any of them. Their crowd got into the game which didn't happen in round 22 with our start. We will learn from this as we did from the Swans and Cat losses How the hell did the Cats throw away a 4 goal lead with 7mins left in the 05 SF. They panicked but they learnt from it

In a way, it is a little early to start this thread but 2019 memberships will open soon. I thought while our finals success and ticketing experience is fresh in our minds it is a good time for folks to think about their membership. Certainly, for me it was quite enlightening to learn what different membership categories mean for access to Finals tickets. (And amusing to watch us all staggering around in the dark not knowing what to do to negotiate the process or Ticketek. It was fun sharing it with everyone on here). The main things I learnt: Three game or better membership had the same priority eligibility to Finals weeks 1 - 3. For the Grand Final it all changes. Broadly the categories were: Ballot: Priority 1 - Memberships with the Grand Final Guarantee (GFG) included or added on (plus some other categories) Ballot: Priority 2 - 11 Home Game or better memberships without GFG (plus some other categories) Ballot: Priority 3 - All other memberships The odds of Priority 3 being allocated GF tickets seemed quite low. I think, the AFL sets the broad eligibility rules so the above may change for 2019. For 2019, I assume the memberships with the GFG will sell out fast as the number sold is capped and people that already have it get first choice to keep it. At the risk of the membership team being inundated with early calls, I was able to upgrade my niece's 3 game membership to a Redlegs membership late last week (same row but not to sit together; wait listed for that). I will post the link to Memberships when I see it on the club website. A couple of other thoughts: This isn't the thread for posters to criticise supporters asking for barcodes etc - 2018 caught us all by surprise so cut them some slack, especially the country and interstate folk This isn't the thread to complain about Ticketek or the AFL ticketing policies. Maybe the mods could pin this for a while so that new info can easily be found. One final thing: What an outstanding job the Membership Team did. It all went without a hitch which is no easy task the first time a new project is undertaken by a team in any organisation. Kudos to Tracey and her team for the work, time and energy they put in to making our lives as straight forward as possible.

Pathetic comment. If this was my site i'd ban you immediately. It's not so i'll put you on ignore.

Ablett 3 votes in round 1 ? He was a seagull.

I'm not gutted. I'm barely even upset. I'll be looking forward to the 2019 season with more anticipation than any other I've experienced. We all rebound from disappointements at different speeds and process it in different ways, but I think soon enough everyone on here will be climbing the walls waiting for 2019 to start and for the next effort to get rolling.

Well done to Gus, Max & Clarrie the engine room. Two players in the top 4

Apart from Nev, the other bit of note was a tape of Max receiving his jumper from Jim Stynes. A great speech by Jim, who was obviously quite unwell. Very emotional viewing and his daughter Matisse is very impressive

Nev just won the Jim Stynes Community award! Well done Nev!

Brownlow votes should be determined by analysts (tv, radio, etc) instead of umpires. These dodgy pricks cant even adjudicate a game fairly/consistently, how can we expect them to award votes fairly. Ablett's 3 votes in round1 is a perfect example of these idiots voting with theirs hearts and not their heads.

Watching the red carpet part, waiting for the vote count proper to start reminded me how footballers can be such C grade celebrities and what a complete w@#ker Patrick Dangerfield is.

Firstly, I have to confess that I am in the enemy camp, but am a lover of good football and joined to comment on a few things. 1. Having read a few topics on here I am generally impressed with the level of knowledge and discussion here. All clubs, even mine, has some idiots as supporters. Some, such as Collingwood, Essendon, Fremantle, and Port seem to have nothing else, but it is what it is. Here it is good that most can construct a proper sentence with nouns and verbs in an English manner. Unlike the ferals at dockerland who struggle with anything resembling English. 2. Your list is not as bad as some have said. You have some good young guys who are only going to get better. Your list is in better shape than the Saints who have hovered around about the same draft positions as Melbourne. You are a few elites short of top level but are not far off. Your list age profile is better than that at Hawthorn and Geelong. I would call you as probable top 8 and possible top 4 in 2019 and will put in an early call of good chance top 4 in 2020. 3. You play a brand of football that is more enjoyable to watch than most. Entertaining, high scoring but with a decent defensive side. You'll win more than you lose with this style. 4. A couple of areas I will raise some level of exception to. a. Booing. All clubs do it and the new stadium is a sound trap. When Malthouse arrived at the WC one of his biggest problems was to turn around the supporters from being too nice and clapping opposition good play to being more like Victorian supporters. We learnt from you guys how to boo. Booing is also not always what it seems. There were complaints last week of WC booing an injured Collingwood player as he left the ground. Not true. They were booing the replay of the collision where Yeo was taken out below the knees but the free went to the Pies. A free kick to Yeo in 203 of the 204 games at that point of 2018. I lived in Melbourne in the late 80's/early 90's and the crowds at Vic Park and Windy Hill make the current WC crowd look like Chardonnay swilling picnickers. b. Some have complained of the level of travel you have done. When compared to Stayathomewood that is a valid whinge. But against the most traveled team in the competition? 5. I think 3 of the 4 prelim teams actually overachieved this year. Most pundits had the Pies as bottom 4, WC as bottom 4 (Robert Walls as spoon) and Melbourne as hanging around the 7-10 mark. So on reflection, a good season to build on. No need to make wholesale changes, but certainly a tweak here and there wouldn't hurt.

Balic stiff not to cop a mention in the retirees

An outstanding player. An even more outstanding human being. What a star!

How the [censored] did Gawn not get votes for the Carlton game? 44 hit outs, 4 clearances, 8 score involvements, 2 goals. 0 votes. Done with this stupid award.

My view is quite different. I don’t think that pace is the reason we lose games, albeit we have less leg speed than teams like the pies and WCE. The games where we have been exposed this year we have been smashed in the contest and no amount of leg speed was ever going to remedy that. Opposition sides talk about how quickly we move the ball when we are winning, much like the Geelong sides of mid 2000s who didn’t have much in the way of genuine pace but moved the ball like lightning. In my opinion, out biggest deficiency, and the difference between our side and those Geelong sides, is skill and composure. We need to generate so many more opportunities than our opposition because we are less efficient with the ball. Top of my wish list would be players that fit our “type” but who can hit targets and make good decisions most of the time. Salem is one who is combative and classy but there aren’t too many of those on our list.

I don't have an any faith that needs restoring. That was a great September journey. This team is going places and with a few more games into everyone and possibly filling a few gaps we will play finals each year for some time to come. Of course that was not a great way to go out but I think we just ran out of gas. You only need a 10% lapse in effort and that's what you look like in a final when the other team brings their A game. For me i have enjoyed the whole ride. I have backed this team through some hard times and i am looking forward to backing them through some good times over the next 5 - 10 years. We are setup for sustained success. Bring on 2019!

I'm the same, Goff. I thought I'd be distraught after losing a prelim, but we were playing West Coast in WA and we took a young team with significant structural weaknesses (especially through injury) and we beaten soundly. If we'd won it would have been a truly exceptional win. And now we go into 2019 with a flag in the forefront of our minds. We get to be a team whose season doesn't begin until September. We have a few gaps to fill still, but the cream of the team is very young and in the important spots. Plus we have significant improvement. Now I'm just excited for the new season to start. And we don't need big names to join to manufacture that excitement. We'll be in the top 2 or 3 picks for the flag next year across the board. That's a type of fun I haven't experienced before as a Melbourne fan.

Just saw this posted on Facebook & it had me in stitches ? "Important information for all Collingwood supporters going to the game next Saturday; Dole payments will be available as cash advances outside gates 4,7 and 8. A temporary parole office will be set up near gate 3. An amnesty will be available for stolen vehicles that can be left in the carpark after the game. A fight will be made available outside the Royal at 7pm. Free trains will be available from Richmond station assuming you wont have paid for a ticket anyway..."

Clarry had 40 touches against the Cats and missed out on a single vote. Yep, I'm done.

Might be the only one, but I'm happy for the umpires to be clueless about who played well in any particular game. They are there only to adjudicate the game and are too often clueless about that. I wish they went back to the days when umpires weren't 'personalities' and they stayed completely out of the limelight (I'm talking to you Razer). The sooner Brownlow voting is taken away from them, the better.

This is pretty much why the Brownlow is now a joke award, coaches award is a much better indication

Neville Jetta wins the Jim Stynes community award! Incredible achievement and shows what an incredible individual Nev has become. We're so lucky to have him. Big hearted lad.

Neville Jetta is an absolute legend ❤️?

Absolute joke this voting. What do you expect from a bunch of part timers who can’t get simple rules right?

Some people like myself spend thousands of dollars each year flying to Melbourne and other capital cities to watch the team play.

I've moved on from yesterday! We didn't go all the way but we had some very fine performances over the three weks. Interested in who people think was our Mr September (across all three games). My votes are (in Brownlow style): 3 J. Viney 2 N Jetta 1 J Harmes They were the most consistent - each had an exceptional game in at least one of the earlier finals and were the most likely to drag us out of the quagmire yesterday. (Apologies to Weideman and T Mcdonald).

Blues denied a priority pick

Not everyone praised his game against Hawthorn. I thought he was awful and said so. It's also funny that many quote his "leadership" in defence of his position in the team and yet in the first quarter on Saturday he was completely undisciplined and showed exactly why he isn't a leader on the ground. Yes, we had 22 players that "stunk it up" but he is supposed to be the leader that help us not "stink it up". He failed and should be called out on it. I can always accept skill errors and poor decisions on the ground, that's part and parcel of the game, but I can't accept the self-indulgent, arrogant, stupid and undisciplined tripe he dished up on Saturday, it hurt his team, the club and us as supporters.

It makes sense. Even if we play 2 rucks in half the games, or give Gawn 2-3 games off each H&A season, it has to be a better option than flogging a half dead horse to the finish line. Gawn was spent on Saturday. He has rucked solidly for 26 weeks. It is far far too big an ask. Not to mention that he has only managed 2 injury-free seasons in his entire career. What a risk if he goes down.

Go and follow someone else then goose

Pretty harsh on Tmac. Spent most of the prelim in the backline plugging holes and rucking.

1. Goodwin does not rate leg-speed enough. This must change. We have an over-supply of one-paced tractors. Hunt, Garlett and Frost were stamped for Casey until he had his hand forced with the latter. Our wings yesterday were Tyson and Jones FCS. Wingmen surely must be able to cover the ground. Also Lewis as our +1 in defence slows an already sluggish team. 2. Due in some small part to factor 1, WE DONT SWITCH EVER. We predictably kick down the line hoping that Gawn will bring it to ground. With Frost and Hibberd back we should be switching at least to keep the opposition guessing, and forcing their attack to hang back and leave more room for our mids. 3. We can’t play tempo at all. As Roos says, we are 100% ballistic. We are nervous when we need to control the pill. The Hawthorn last quarter proved this beyond doubt. Yes, it was a gettable flag, but we have cracks under the wallpaper to patch. A credit to our players for doing so well despite this.

Crows Giants Swans Port Geelong and Essendon all trained prepared and expected to make top 4 and they all failed. We missed finals last season and set the goal of making finals and from there consider trying to make top 4. Well we finished 5th and but for some moments against the Cats where we blew chances we could have actually finished top 3 in the home and away. At seasons end we finished top 4 and at some stage you will realise this is a new Melbourne. All the experts and list builders who talk about the need to get 100games into players aren't plucking numbers from the sky or without experience it is genuinely what it takes players to get used to playing at this level and expose them to a variety of scenarios the AFL throws at you. You can't actually prepare for what is thrown at you in a Preliminary final at Optus. You can plan and prepare for what to expect but real exposure to it helps you prepare for the next opportunity. IMO that is what Gawny was referring to.

looks like he is heading our way

Pennant - a well considered summation of how the day unfolded, especially re hitting the wall physically and emotionally (probably more so emotionally than physically IMVHO). It was a great ride into the finals, and the first two weeks. Thanks to all involved. Forward and upwards for 2019.

Thats comparing a talented 18 year old first year key defender vs a 27 year old mid.

Have you seen the AFLW? The girls are as tough as old boot leather.

We had the golden opportunity to take Oscar McInerney with our 1st pick in the rookie draft, only to then overlook for for none other then Lachie Filipovic ?‍♂️ Had a great debut year this year with 16 games and kicked 14 goals as a ruckman/forward giving Stef Martin a chop out.

I actually have found a lot of the hysteria bizarre. I'm not angry. Or disappointed. Nor proud or excited. I'm indifferent. It's a super tough league and we still have some way to go. All this talk of a fairytale was misplaced. Bulldogs and Richmond had both already played on the big stage. You just gotta expect them to compete and be thereabouts. You just gotta keep your expectations in check. You have a really good young core and 2 players who will likely place top 5 in the Brownlow. Two AA selections. Lever and Hogan to come in. Potentially May, and that ruckman from North. Goodwin to evolve as a coach. Viney to get better. Since round 23 2017 I have been completely indifferent, and that's allowed me to be calmer during the season, with a varied level of expectation. I expect us to beat teams like St Kilda. I get angry when we lose games like the ones against Geelong. Or round 4 vs Hawthorn. But I just can't be angry when we lose against West Coast in Perth in a Prelim. It was a poor performance, but that happens. They were exhausted, shellshocked, and bullied. It happens. Geelong beat Collingwood by 90 points in the 2009 Prelim. What happened in 2010? Perspective is also important. The season was somewhat lost to me after the Sydney game. We played great football after that, but I can't understand how no one could see Saturday coming. I hoped for better but also expected disappointment. That allowed me to deal with it better than some have. My family were clamouring and worrying about tickets to the GF. I lost my [censored] and got angry at them because we hadn't even made it yet. I get applying for the ballot and planning ahead, but there was this hysteria and "woe is me" at the prospect of missing out on a ticket. I literally told my sister to stfu and just look forward to the game on the weekend. Then we lost and she carried on like as if the sky was falling. Football is important to us all, and it's imperative in life to be part of something bigger than yourself. I never understood the mantra of some here who always said to keep perspective and understand that it's "just a game". You gotta find a balance between being involved emotionally, and being able to deal with the highs and lows with equal emotional investment. If you go overboard when they win, you will go overboard when they lose. Goodwin and Co know what they're doing but you just can't expect the world from them. If you do then you're setting up for disappointment.

They don’t need to restore faith. We have seen improvement year in year out for 5 years. We have played Fanals and won 2 without hogan and lever we won 14 with lever and Viney missing huge chunks of the year we have had young players come through and some seriously develop like James Harmes and Sam frost Most coaches would love our list with the age profile, talent, style and the future ahead of us. we had a mare in the prelim and that’s dissapointing but it doesn’t change the long term direction of this club. we are right on the edge of something very special thanks to Goodwin and co they don’t need to restore faith, we all need to keep it.

As others have said, the initial disappointment for me faded quickly. I was through the worst of it by the time I’d polished off my pulled beef and gravy roll when the third quarter started. I’m just excited now and miffed that I have to sit through another long off-season before next year. It’s a month shorter than normal this year though! Regarding leadership and culture change: Jack Viney is about as hard to listen to as any skipper I’ve seen, but his post match with Burgs is worth a go. To paraphrase he mentions that he’s proud of the effort and growth of the team, but that we absolutely have to take our chances when they arose. To me it’s the first sign I’ve seen that there’s more to his leadership than “leading by doing”. I truly think he gets it. This team to me has a track record of learning from its poor performances. It’s becoming cliche when Goodwin says you win or learn, but I think the team’s actions match. Bring on 2019.

We've had a great year and we have young talent so we look set to have organic improvement through development and no loss of key personnel. We have good list balance with no glaring deficiency But that won't be enough on its own to take us to the next level. We need to keep making the changes to the structure and players in the team. Even then flag success is not guaranteed - some luck is required. The Saints missed out through more than a dozen years of opportunity through to 2010. Freo had a surge in around Pavs career but missed out and Adelaide have been close but no cigar for a couple strong surges since their flags 20 years ago. We need to take our chances when they arise. Exciting times ahead - enjoy the ride.

I’m not guttered but I am gutted. And that reminds me I do need new gutters so if anyone knows a guy let me know.

We need a decent chop out for Gawn also. He gets shagged out at seasons end and if he goes down there’s no reasonable replacement. No way to plan to win a flag with a tired ruckman or no replacement.

Jesse Hogan Born:12-Feb-1995 (Debut:20y 51d Last:23y 181d) Height:195 cm Weight:100 kg Year Team # GM W-D-L KI MK HB DI GL BH HO TK RB IF CL CG FF FA BR CP UP CM MI 1% BO GA Totals 71 32-0-39 685 459 393 1078 152 81 13 110 17 174 20 132 81 37 14 458 629 124 183 87 5 44 Averages 17.75 45.07% 9.65 6.46 5.54 15.18 2.14 1.14 0.18 1.55 0.24 2.45 0.28 1.86 1.14 0.52 0.20 6.45 8.86 1.75 2.58 1.23 0.07 0.62 2015 Melbourne 1 20 6-0-14 178 134 83 261 44 19 25 1 45 5 20 17 6 5 118 139 47 52 22 1 12 2016 Melbourne 1 21 9-0-12 206 149 104 310 41 33 4 29 8 47 1 39 19 10 6 123 189 43 63 24 3 12 2017 Melbourne 1 10 5-0-5 91 51 51 142 20 6 15 2 26 3 19 9 5 3 55 87 10 21 9 1 6 2018 Melbourne 1 20 12-0-8 210 125 155 365 47 23 9 41 6 56 11 54 36 16 162 214 24 47 32 14 Josh Kennedy Born:25-Aug-1987 (Debut:18y 255d Last:31y 28d) Height:196 cm Weight:103 kg Year Team # GM W-D-L KI MK HB DI GL BH HO TK RB IF CL CG FF FA BR CP UP CM MI 1% BO GA Totals 220 112-2-106 1887 1296 651 2538 559 306 52 519 15 486 38 467 254 227 69 1190 1370 323 591 259 15 119 Averages 16.92 51.36% 8.58 5.89 2.96 11.54 2.54 1.39 0.24 2.36 0.07 2.21 0.17 2.12 1.15 1.03 0.33 5.41 6.23 1.47 2.69 1.18 0.07 0.54 2006 Carlton 5 9 1-1-7 36 32 16 52 5 4 1 11 15 1 17 7 8 25 30 5 8 3 1 2007 Carlton 5 13 2-0-11 57 50 40 97 6 5 40 27 4 16 6 19 10 9 40 55 7 6 15 1 2008 West Coast 17 7 1-0-6 55 46 34 89 7 4 1 7 19 2 12 9 5 34 55 9 6 7 4 2009 West Coast 17 16 6-0-10 150 110 52 202 31 17 2 28 2 40 4 35 16 13 76 128 23 32 23 1 9 2010 West Coast 17 22 4-0-18 199 130 61 260 41 19 1 60 1 69 3 58 25 27 3 108 149 28 34 30 3 15 2011 West Coast 17 23 16-0-7 208 144 62 270 59 38 70 69 4 55 25 32 4 150 125 51 65 42 3 15 2012 West Coast 17 9 7-0-2 58 43 16 74 18 14 13 13 1 16 7 11 3 39 35 14 24 7 1 1 2013 West Coast 17 21 8-0-13 210 143 63 273 60 23 1 69 2 60 1 44 26 21 6 137 137 34 62 16 1 17 2014 West Coast 17 20 10-0-10 175 114 51 226 61 33 62 1 33 6 46 23 26 11 90 131 17 56 19 1 10 2015 West Coast 17 25 18-1-6 241 168 92 333 80 55 52 1 60 5 44 28 20 12 154 184 39 101 28 3 18 2016 West Coast 17 23 16-0-7 229 148 71 300 82 37 1 69 3 45 4 52 34 26 17 151 157 42 87 30 1 15 2017 West Coast 17 19 11-0-8 166 111 59 225 69 39 5 27 27 32 24 18 13 112 111 34 72 28 10 2018 West Coast 17 13 12-0-1 103 57 34 137 40 18 24 1 20 1 37 20 11 74 73 20 38 11 4 Jesse Hogan 152 goals in his first 4 years in 71 games. Josh Kennedy 90 goals in his first 5 years in the AFL in 67 games. Jesse averaged 50% more disposals in those games as well. I think you are the one that needs to feel really embarrassed. Also I was rubbishing the get rid of Hogan thread. I never said he would have made a difference yesterday, so don't change the meaning of my post. I said he could be our Josh Kennedy and people want to get rid of him. He is on better track than Josh was at the same stage.

Hysterical school girl